Mariners Winning Awards

Well, the news isn’t all bad. Raul Ibanez was named American League Player of the Week– sort of. Actually it’s Co-Player of the Week, which is a very awkward, bulky title. (Why don’t they just have two Players of the Week? Why confuse things with the “co-“? I don’t like it, I don’t mind telling you.) Anyway, Raul’s co-winner was Torii Hunter, which for some reason makes a lot of sense. I guess it’s just because I like both of these guys- they seem like good team players and genuinely nice fellows, and it seems to work out nicely that they both win together.

I wonder how the players feel about these awards though- I haven’t seen any reaction from Raul in print yet, although I’m sure he’ll acknowledge it here soon. Ichiro is famous for being openly disinterested in this particular form of recognition, and from reading the press release, I can understand why. While it’s nice to see someone’s outstanding performance get noticed, this is basically a weekly advertisement in disguise for “Bank of America’s long-standing tradition of promoting and recognizing higher standards of accomplishment” and “Tourneau, the world’s largest watch store”. But if I start letting myself get annoyed at the blatant advertising inherent in baseball, I’m going to go insane… more so, I mean.

Speaking of things I’m trying not to let myself be annoyed with, JJ Putz is in the running for “DHL Delivery Man of the Year“. Now I’m certainly not annoyed with JJ- I’m thrilled for him. There is no way I’d have foreseen him having the kind of year that would get him nominated for a closer award, which, despite the confusing title, is what this is. I’m not even really annoyed with DHL- like I said, I can’t start getting irked by this stuff now. No, what bothers me is, this is apparently an award that the fans vote for, like the All-Star Game. And in order to vote, I’m required to give an address and phone number in addition to my email address. Is that really necessary? If JJ wins, is he going to call people and thank them for their votes, or drop by their houses for photos and snacks? It seems bizarre that they need so much information just so I can vote for- let’s be honest here- the guy I personally like the best. I genuinely think JJ has done a fabulous job, but if my vote were completely unbiased, I’d have to vote for Trevor Hoffman, just based on him recently breaking the all-time record for saves.

Even if you don’t feel like giving out all the details of your personal life just to give a big bonus, and probably free overnight shipping for life, to some relief pitcher, it’s worth taking a look at the voting page for comic relief. It’s a nice Gallery of Win-Faces. Bobby Jenks in particular looks like he’s in the middle of trying to bag a classy lady by explaining that he’s got two tickets to the Gun Show. (I’m hoping you’ve all seen Anchorman, or else that joke totally does not work.)